Fighting fate
by Komillia
Summary: An alternate version of the season 4 premiere "Charmed Again". How would things have turned out if Phoebe had been the one to die instead of Prue?
1. Charmed Again I

**FIGHTING FATE**

**by Komillia**

**Part 1: Charmed Again**

* * *

The attic was dark, save for a few lit candles. A calm, yet cold breeze blew through the attic from a slightly opened window. Seated on the floor, right in front of the low table where the lit candles had been carelessly placed in what looked like a small circle, was a woman with long dark hair. She sat with her back straight, elbows on the table and was hovering slightly over a large, thick book with pages that had long gone yellow. The darkness in the attic cast shadows over her face, but none greater than the shadows inside her heart.

"In this night, in this hour," the woman chanted calmly. "I call upon the ancient power. Bring back my sister... bring back the power of three."

Nothing happened. Not a single change in the wind that was blowing. Not in the flickering flames of the candles. No magical sparkles appearing and definitely not a lost sister appearing. Quickly flipping a few pages in the book, it didn't take long until the woman found what she was looking for.

"Power of the witches rise, course unseen across the skies. Come to us who call you here. Come to us and settle here."

Her voice shook slightly as she spoke. But just as before nothing happened. Wasting no time, the woman immediately grabbed a few herbs from a nearby bowl and put them inside a small black cauldron, also standing on the table. She reached out to her left. Her fingers made contact with cold metal. Picking up the knife, she held both her hands over the cauldron. Without hesitating or even showing the slightest sign of pain, the woman made a half an inch long cut on her index finger. Blood slowly streamed out from the small cut and fell into the bowl in tiny drops. The woman put the knife down and her gaze returned to the book. Again, she flipped a few pages.

"Blood to blood, I summon thee. Blood to blood, return to me."

The burning flame of a candle suddenly caught her attention. She stared at it as the flame started to flicker more violently. For a few moments hope returned to the woman, who thinking that the sudden violent flickering of the flame could be a sign that the spells had worked. But the flame calmed down soon and almost stopped moving at all.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, the woman closed the book and ran her right hand through her hair. Her index finger on her left hand was still bleeding and stained the table with crimson drops. But she couldn't care less. The spells hadn't worked. They couldn't bring her back. She was gone.

"Prue?"

The woman jumped slightly when she heard her name being called. For a moment, she believed that her spells had worked.

"Phoebe?" Prue whispered and looked at the dark corners of the attic, hoping that she wasn't alone. But hope abandoned her again, as it always did when Prue looked over her shoulder and saw Piper entering the attic. Not even trying to hide her disappointment, Prue buried her face in her hands, smeering blood over her forehead.

Piper stopped at the doorway, her attention turning to the table that Prue was sitting in front of. Herbs, cauldrons, candles, a knife and the Book of Shadows. She didn't need to think twice before guessing what Prue had been doing before she had entered the attic.

"Trying again... weren't you?" Piper said quietly. Taking small steps, she walking over to Prue and sat down next to her on the floor. She leaned her head against Prue's shoulder and tried to keep herself from bursting into tears. It seemed like her tears would never dry or stop.

"Maybe if I adjust the position of the candles slightly..." Prue murmured. She leaned slightly over the table and started to move the candles. "They aren't really standing in the exact..."

Her voice suddenly faded away, as did the determined expression on her face. Prue sunk back slightly and shook her head. Her eyes were still fixed on the candles, but the feeling of hopelessness was now completely over her.

"It's no use... is it?" Prue asked no one in particular. "No matter how many times we try, how many potions we make, how many times we adjust and rewrite the spells... it won't bring Phoebe back."

Upon hearing Phoebe's name, Piper's little and fragile control over her own tears broke. Like many times the past week, tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I don't know understand why magic can't fix this..." she sobbed, burying her face in Prue's shoulder. Prue hugged Piper tightly, tears from her own eyes falling into Piper's hair.

"Neither do I," she whispered.

"Why doesn't any of this work?" Piper went on. "Scrying, calling for a lost witch... it's like the book deserted us and deserted Phoebe!"

Prue opened her mouth slightly to answer, but found that she didn't have an answer. Those were things she had wondered herself, asked Leo a hundreds of times before demanding that he'd go see the Elders and ask them. Leo had orbed "up there" again to check with the Elders and see if they had come up with a way, probably for the twentieth time since Phoebe's death.

Prue and Piper stayed in the attic, not speaking but holding each other and crying. Finally, Piper pulled away slightly and looked at her oldest sister, now the only sister she had left.

"So what do we do now?" she asked.

Prue was silent. Unknown to both sisters, who were too caught up in their grief, an invinsible and mysterious force caused the triquetra on the front of the Book of Shadows to glow brightly before opening the book and flipping to a page with a spell.

"I don't know," Prue answered finally.

They didn't notice that the book had been opened, nor did they notice the spell. It was one of the spells that Prue had cast just before Piper had entered.

To call a lost witch.

* * *

The phone started to ring. Not her phone, but someone else's. The fax machine was printing out something. A large printer in the back of the crowded office had started to make a rumbling sound and by reading the text in the small, glowing monitor, one could tell that it was warming up. People were walking past her, around her, shouting out different things to no one in particular.

The phone was still ringing. Paige Matthews rolled her eyes, annoyed and half tempted to go and find the phone and take the call. But then she turned her attention back to the file she had opened on the computer. After taking a few moments to check that it was the right one, she pressed the print button.

"Printing!" she called out to whoever could hear her. Paige turned her chair around slightly and was just about to get up and get the printed file when the most strange thing happend. Through the office, which relied heavily on air conditioning, a small gust of wind blew. But the small gust was enough to put out a small scented candle that Paige had put next to her desk as a decorating. Paige stared at the candle, wondering why the flame had died out. But deciding that it wasn't really important, she got up and headed for the printer.

But after only taking a few steps, she heard a weird sound. A sound that couldn't be described as anything but magical. Frowning and wondering what kind of sound that was, Paige turned around just in time to see the morning paper drop to the floor from mid-air. Without thinking about it, she picked the paper up from the floor but looked around to see if anyone had been close enough to drop the paper. Everyone in the office seemed to be occupied with their own thing and seemed far too busy to go around and drop newspapers on the floor. Shrugging slightly, Paige looked at the newspaper and read the word on the top.

Obituaries. It didn't take long for Paige to spot the names of people had passed away and who's funeral was today. But one of them stood out.

Phoebe Halliwell.

That name, at the obituaries page of the newspaper, sent a shocking wave of different emotions through Paige. Confusion, shock and somewhere deep inside her, sadness. She reread the name, just to be sure that she hadn't read it wrong. But it wasn't. The small text below, summarizing Phoebe Halliwell's life and her upcoming funeral, confirmed it all for Paige.

"Paige, did you find that study yet?"

It was her boss, mr Cowan calling her from the doorway of his office. He stopped there, waiting for an answer. But when he saw that Paige seemed rather absorbed in reading the newspaper, he shook his head and walked over to her.

"Paige, did you hear me?" mr Cowan asked rather impatiently. Paige didn't take her eyes of the newspaper, but seemed to have acknowledged her boss and his request.

"Yeah... it's in the printer," she answered absent-mindedly. Reaching out her right hand, she immediately found her jacket. "I'm sorry, but I have to go."

Paige grabbed her jacket quickly and started to walk towards the elevator. Mr Cowan, confused at what she was doing, called out her name. But Paige didn't reply and she was seen walking out of the office in a hurry, clutching the newspaper tightly.

* * *

_"I miss you now_

_I have so many questions_

_About love, about pain, about strange relationships..."_

Upon hearing the lyrics of the song that the radio played, Prue waved her hand at the radio. The plug was immediately pulled out by the unseen and telekinetic force that she possessed. Music about missing and losing people was something that Prue didn't think that she was up for at that time.

The manor was strangely quiet. Even though Prue was walking around, placing flowers on tables and decorating for the private reception that was to be held after the funeral, now that the radio wasn't on the manor was too quiet. Prue stopped when she entered the hallway and she looked at the stairs. For a moment she half expected Phoebe to come running downstairs, enthusiastic about something that she had just discovered.

But as always, Prue realized that that wasn't going to happen. Ever. She was slowly starting to accept that fact that Phoebe wasn't there anymore. Instead of feeling tears clouding up her eyes, she felt a deep emptiness inside of her. Like someone had ripped out and destroyed a part of her.

_How are we ever going to get through this?_ Prue thought to herself. But she didn't have more time to dwell in her thoughts. The door bell rang. Prue looked up, remembering that her father and Darryl were on their way to the manor. Relieved that she wouldn't be alone, Prue rushed to the door and opened it. But what she saw wasn't what she expected or wanted.

Standing in front of her, was no other man than Cole.

He was looked very undecent. He probably hadn't shaved in a few days and his eyes were the eyes or a man who had gained everything but lost it all in only a matter of seconds. His beloved Phoebe was dead. He had been the one who had to witness it and the one who had carried her cold body back to the manor.

But Prue felt everything but pity and compassion for him. The sight of Cole fueled an anger which had laid dormant since the last time she saw him. She was furious beyond words and any normal person who dared to look into her would be staring into the destructive wrath.

Without as much as a word, Prue flung her arm across the air, using all her strength to telekinetically throw Cole backwards and away from the house. Had Prue's self control been less, she wouldn't just have settled with throwing him back. But right now all she wanted to for him to get out of her sight. Closing the door, Prue locked it and went further into the hallway.

She ran her hang through her neatly brushed hair and took a deep breath to calm herself. Now wasn't the time. Today was Phoebe's funeral. There would be no more killing, no more fighting today. She would deal with Cole later.

But as always, things never happened the way Prue wanted them to. Only a few seconds after closing the door, Cole shimmered into the manor and appeared standing right in front of Prue. Startled, Prue raised one hand to send him flying into the wall but Cole was faster and grabbed her hand before it was fully raised. He grabbed her other arm as well to prevent him from using it.

Standing so close, Prue could feel the smell of alcohol coming from Cole. She struggled to free herself but his hold on her was just too strong. Looking into his eyes, she saw emotions in them that told her that he has as little patience for her as she had for him.

"I've not come to fight you," Cole hissed.

"I suggest that you get the hell outta here or I'll make sure that you do," Prue retorted angrily while trying to think of ways to free herself. Maybe if she astral projected behind him and...

"Listen to me," Cole said. "I loved Phoebe, more than anything else. I have a right to be at her funeral!"

"No, you don't!" Prue yelled back. "You were the one who couldn't save her, you were the one who she sacrificed herself for. You're the reason why she isn't here right now!"

"Stop it, both of you!" a third voice suddenly yelled. Both Prue and Cole looked to their sides. Standing on the top of the stairs, half leaning against the railing, was Piper. Leo was standing right behind her but little attention was paid to him.

Piper's eyes were red and swollen, she had been crying again. She looked like she was on the verge of crying again. Feeling that Cole's grip on her was loosing, Prue quickly pulled away from him.

"No more fights today," Piper said, looking at both Cole and Prue while speaking. "Phoebe... wouldn't want you to fight. Not today... of all days."

Cole and Prue glanced at each other briefly before turning away. They said nothing more to each other then, but there was so much that was left unsaid. For a few seconds silence returned to the manor, only to be interupted by the door bell ringing. Prue walked over to the door and opened since she was the one closest. This time she greeted the visitors with a hug.

"Dad, Darryl," she said, hugging them both. She held her father a little longer than usual.

"Hey sweetie," Victor replied, returning the hug.

Darryl forced a weak smile on his lips as he looked at the others. He was a bit surprised to see Cole in the manor, but considering what day it was he decided not to ask.

"How are you guys holding up?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

"That depends on how you see it," Piper muttered. Without a word she walked past Leo and headed upstairs again. Leo watched her leaving and then turned back to the others, sensing that Piper wanted to be alone.

"This is probably a bad time to tell you this..." Darryl started, looking incredibly uncomfortable as he spoke. "But my superiors are assigning Phoebe's case to another inspector."

The last words caught the attention of everyone in the room, including those who had slipped into deep thought. Leo looked at Darryl, frowning slightly.

"What case?" Leo wondered.

"What case?" Darryl repeated, somewhat disbelieved. "Are you kidding? Phoebe and a prominent doctor were killed here, Leo. Made a lot of press. People want answers. Important people."

Prue let out a frustrated sigh. Phoebe's death, Shax, the Source and now the police. But she couldn't let herself get affected by it. She had to stay strong. There was nothing else that she could do. Standing behind Prue, Victor was looking away from the others and trying to stay silent.

"We'll find a way to handle him," Prue said. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Prue, we have to be careful," Leo warned. "You may not remember what happened but when you and Piper were exposed as witches wasn't a pretty sight."

"Look Leo, I'm not gonna forget about this, it's just that now isn't the time," Prue retorted.

"But..." Leo started. But before he could finish, Victor suddenly stepped forwards from the shadowy, quiet corner he had been standing in.

"Leo, can't this wait?!" Victor questioned, sounding a little more angry and upset than he intended to. "Phoebe is... today is Phoebe's..."

Although he tried, Victor couldn't get the words out of his mouth. The words "dead" and "funeral" were words that he couldn't associate with Phoebe. She had been so full of life and so happy last time he had been here. That was why the news had been so shocking. It wasn't the first time, but Victor felt like his three daughters would have been better off without their powers and so called destiny. Then Phoebe would still be alive.

Although Prue didn't look at her father, she knew exactly what he felt. Perhaps it was the strong bond they had had when she was little that had returned, or just the fact that her feelings were similiar to his. But object of her blame wasn't magic.

"I'm not going to let anyone hurt the people that I love," Prue said bitterly. She turned her gaze to Cole. "Or let Phoebe's murderer get away."

Both Leo and Victor thought that Prue was talking about the Source. But Cole's eyes met Prue's and the look in her eyes told him everything and too much.

* * *

The sky had a light blue color that day. Not to intense, not too light. The sun shone brightly through the few clouds that were in the sky. It didn't shine to strong or too little, but somewhere in the middle of it. Had it not been the occasion one might even had said that it was a beautiful day.

Piper paid little attention to the weather as she and Prue walked into the mausoleum, followed by Leo and Victor. Cole was tagging along as well, but remained far behind the others and tried to attract as little attention from them as possible. Upon entering the mausoleum, Piper sat down one of the chairs in the front and watched everyone else in silence. Prue and Victor were greeting the guests, who had already started to arrive. Leo was talking with the Wiccan priestress who would preform the ceremony and Darryl was standing next to him, somewhat unsure of what he should do. Like Piper, Cole had sat down on a chair but in the far back of the room. With his black suit, it looked like he was trying to retreat into the shadows. Or perhaps, hewas trying to retreat into his own world full of old and happier memories.

The decorations in the mausoleum consisted mainly of different kinds of flowers. The smell of magnolia had reached Piper's nostrils the moment she had walked in. Standing near the coffin was a table set up with different objects to be used during the ceremony. As Piper once again spotted the Wiccan priestress, she suddenly wondered who had done all the funeral arrangements. Prue? Leo? Their father?

_Probably Prue... _Piper thought. A malicious thought crept inside of her. Prue had let go of Phoebe. She had given up on the hope that there was still some kind of magical way to bring Phoebe back.

Shaking her head, Piper quickly told herself to pull herself together. It was stupid of her to blame Prue for it, when giving up on the hope was the only logical thing to do. But logic had seldom ruled Piper's life and when she looked at the white coffin a big part of her wanted to open it and ask, no demand, that the Elders would use magic and heal Phoebe. Whether it was against their stupid rules or not.

_Why did it have to be Phoebe?_ Piper asked herself. _Why did it have to be my sister? Haven't we gone through enough?_

"Piper? Are you okay?"

Piper looked up to see Leo standing before her. His face had a worried expression as he sat down on the chair beside her. Piper looked down on her hands, not wanting to look at Leo at the moment. Part of her blamed Leo for Phoebe's death. If only he had stayed with Phoebe and Cole when time was reset, then things would be looking different. But the other part of her knew that Leo wasn't to blame for what had happened. Had he not orbed up and healed Piper and Prue, one of them or maybe both might have died from Shax's attack.

"No, I'm not okay," she replied, biting her lip slightly. "This should never have happened. Why did it have to be Phoebe? Why did it have to be my sister?"

Leo opened his mouth to give Piper an answer, but he found none. Instead, he silently took Piper into his arms, hoping that it would show his support for her. Piper said nothing but was content with burying her face into Leo's shoulder.

The ceremony started soon afterwards. Prue and Piper were seated next to each other in the front row, with Leo, Victor and Darryl at their sides. There was only a small amount of guests as Phoebe's closest friends were her sisters. The ones invited where Phoebe's friends from college and some were innocents that Phoebe had saved in the past.

"That which belongs to fellowship and love. That which belongs to the circle, remains with us..."

While listening to the words of the priestress, Piper looked at the funeral program she had placed on her lap. She read Phoebe's name quietly to herself and looked at the triquetra that was printed above the name. The triquetra, which represented them as sisters and Charmed Ones.

"The wheel turns," the priestress read from her book. "As life is a day, so our sister has passed into night."

Standing next to the priestress was Phoebe's white coffin. Looking at the coffin, Piper thought that it didn't really fit Phoebe. So clean, so white... so trapping.

"Nothing is final, and we who remain behind know that one day, we will once again share the bread and wind with our sister. O'blessed spirit, we bid you farewell, for you await a new destiny."

After saying the last words the priestress bent down slightly and blew out the three lit candles. At the sight of being candles blown out, something inside Piper snapped. The Power of Three was no more. Suddenly, the thought of facing the future and living without Phoebe seemed impossible and imbearable. She burst into tears and held Prue's and Leo's hands tightly. Tears were already rolling down Prue's cheeks, even though she had done her best to hold them back.

In a lonely corner, sat Cole, completely empty on emotions and thoughts. In the midst of the other guests, sat Paige. She was staring at Phoebe's coffin with a kind of passive sadness. It was strange, she had never known Phoebe Halliwell or talked to her. Yet she was at her funeral, feeling like the two remaining Halliwell sisters. That a part of her was gone.

The ceremony ended shortly afterwards. Both Prue and Piper dried their tears, then got up to join Victor and Leo who were thanking all the guests for coming to the funeral. As the funeral was over, Paige got up from her seat and for a while she considered just leaving.

_No, I can't leave!_ she thought. _That'd be rude... besides, they'll probably just say "thank you for coming" and then move on to the next guest._

With that in mind, she joined the rest of the guests to go and talk to the Halliwells. After a five minute wait, Paige stood before Prue and Piper as the old lady who had stood in line before her walked out of the mausoleum. But Prue and Piper were silent and had probably not even acknowledged Paige's presence. Feeling very uncomfortable, Paige felt that she had to say something.

"I... I'm so sorry for your loss," she managed to say. The moment she said it she heard how bad it sounded. That sentence had been said to her so many times after her parents' death that she had lost count. Back then it had done little to ease her pain.

Upon hearing Paige's voice, both Prue and Piper looked up and spotted her. Prue tried to force herself to smile just a little, but failed miserably.

"Thank you," she said. She didn't remember who the girl standing before her was, even though she had done all the invitations. "How did you know Phoebe? From college?"

"No," Paige replied. Then she realized how weird her explanation for coming to the funeral would be. Quickly, she tried to come up with something to day. "Just... just from around, you know."

_Very good, Paige,_ a voice inside her head complimented. _Not a specific answer or a flat denial._

Piper had yet to find anything interesting about the girl and paid little attention to the conversation that Prue had with her. Prue, on the other hand, felt something weird inside of her. Maybe it was one of those hunches she got in a while, but she wasn't convinced that Paige was speaking the truth. Also, there was something awfully familiar about her.

"Have we met before?" Prue asked. Paige shook her head. The silence in the mausoleum made her aware of the fact that all the other guests had already left and it made her eager to leave.

"No, I don't think so. Anyway... my condolences."

The fact that Paige really wanted to leave and escape Prue's sharp and somewhat suspicious eyes confirmed the popular theory that people rarely got what they wanted. As soon as Paige turned around and walked a few steps towards the door, a small and cold breeze blew through the mausoleum. Prue and Piper looked at each other, thinking the same thing. Their guesses were quickly confirmed as the doors burst open in a great whirl of leaves and strong winds.

Paige shielded her face from the leaves and backed off slightly, into the chairs where the guests had sat during the funeral. Leo, Darryl and Victor quickly joined Prue's and Piper's side.

"What the hell is going on?!" Darryl questioned, ready to arm himself with his gun.

"Shax..." Piper whispered.

The winds great strong, blasting leaves into their faces. In a burst of white light Shax appeared in the middle of the mausoleum, the wind blowing his long hair into a tangled mess. Taking Piper's hand, Prue instinctively placed herself slightly in front of her sister.

"No..." Prue whispered and waved her arm forcefully through the air in the direction towards Shax. Three wooden chairs came flying from a corner but Shax needed only to wave his hand slightly and a strong and powerful gust of wind blew the chairs into the wall. The wind was so powerful that the chairs broke into several pieces the moment they made contact with the wall.

"Piper, freeze him!" Leo called as he pushed Victor and Darryl behind a pillar. Acknowledging what Leo had said, Piper flicked her hands to freeze Shax. But she hadn't yet gained full control of her new power and a chair standing next to Shax ended up exploding.

Glancing at the exploding chair, Shax growled quietly and then turned his gaze back at Halliwells. The wind inside the church grew stronger and in Shax's hand formed a small tornado which increased in size as seconds passed. Cole emerged from his dark corner and charged an energy ball in his hand. But before the energy ball grown to it's full size, the strong wind picked up a chair and sent it flying towards Cole.

With his dark eyes fixed on Prue and Piper, Shax slowly took a few steps towards them. Piper was still trying to freeze Shax but only ended up blowing up chairs and other things near him. The tornado in Shax's hand had grown to the size of a small tree when he sent it flying towards Prue and Piper.

Prue waved her arm to move the tornado away from her, but it came too fast. She only managed to redirect it slightly and even then it was too close. Like a ragged doll, she was thrown into the wall and bounced lightly against it before dropping to the floor.

"Prue!" Piper cried out as Prue didn't show any sign of getting up. Piper quickly backed into a wall, still staring at Prue. Fear was an understatement to describe what she felt. Her eyes turned to Phoebe's coffin, which was probably the only thing in the mausoleum that was still intact. She glanced at Leo, Darryl and Victor who were trying to shield themselves from debris that was flying around. At Cole, who was trying to get to Shax but was prevented by the strong winds. At Paige, who had backed into a corner, scared and confused.

Suddenly Piper's legs failed her and she couldn't stand. She dropped to the floor, staring at nothing. Her heart beat fast, like she had been running for hours. She breathed shallow breaths, although it was something that she didn't notice.

_This can't be happening... this can't be happening, _she kept thinking and closed her eyes. The whole scenario was just too horrible for her to be in. Phoebe was dead, Prue was injured or worse and Shax was there, ready to kill everyone. _Stop it... stop it... stop it... STOP IT!!_

Without noticing it, Piper flicked her hands again and froze the entire mausoleum.

The sound of the wind blowing was suddenly replaced by a tense silence. Piper opened her eyes and found Leo, Darryl, Victor and Cole frozen. She looked towards the middle of the mausoleum where Shax was standing, frozen. Relieved, Piper started to breathe more calmly. In the corner of her eyes, she saw Prue, who's head was turning slightly.

"Prue..." Piper whispered and scrambled to her feet. By the time she made it over to Prue, Prue had already sat up. She held her right shoulder, which looked a little odd.

"I'm okay," Prue assured.

"Thank God..." Piper murmured and hugged Prue. But the embrace only brought Prue pain as her shoulder had taken some damage when she had been thrown against the wall. Trying to hide the pain, Prue focused on Shax as Piper released her from the hug. She turned towards him.

"Piper, we need to focus on..." Prue began, but stopped before she could finish her sentence. She was no longer looking at Shax but at Paige, who was staring back at her. Piper looked puzzled at Prue, but turned her head and spotted Paige as well.

"She's not frozen," Prue pointed out.

"But I froze everything," Piper replied quietly, confused as well.

"What the hell just happened?!" Paige called out from the other end of the mausoleum. She gestured at Shax. "Who is this guy? And how... what...?"

Shax and everyone else unfroze before she finished. Hearing Paige's voice, Shax turned around to face her. Paige's eyes widened slightly in fear and she backed further into the corner where she was hiding. With dozens of debris flying at them, Piper and Prue could do notice but to watch as Shax conjured a grey energy ball in his hand and hurled it at Paige.

She was about to become another dr Griffitih, or any other person that the Charmed Ones had failed to protect. Hope was gone by the time that Prue and Piper saw the grey energy ball. There would be another funeral. But then the strangest thing happened.

As the grey energy ball was thrown at her, Paige instinctively covered her face and head with her arms. In the midst of all the fear that she was feeling, there was something else that she couldn't describe. She had hardly had the time to acknowledge the feeling. In the next moment she dissolved into a swirl of bright shining orbs and disappeared.

The grey energy flew through air and where Paige was supposed to stand before hitting the wall. Prue and Piper stared at the spot in surprise, as did everyone else except for Shax. Before anyone could say anything, the bright orbs appeared again and Paige materialised where she had disappeared. Forgetting about Shax, she stared at herhands, confused.

As she saw Shax raising his hand slightly to send Paige flying into a wall, Prue took a few steps forwards. She held Piper's hand and dragged her with her.

"Evil wind that blows, that of which forms below," Prue called. "No longer will you dwell, death takes you with this spell!"

Shax staggered and appeared to be slightly weakened by the spell. But he recovered quickly and took another step closer to Paige. Squeezing Prue's hand, Piper started to say the spell as well.

"Evil wind that blows, that of which forms below," both Prue and Piper chanted together. "No longer will you dwell, death takes you with this spell!"

Both of them saying the spell seemed to have a more damaging effect on Shax. He fell to his knees, clutching his chest and looked like he was having difficultity breathing. They were about to say the spell again, when Shax looked up at Paige.

"You haven't seen the last of me yet..." he hissed in a low voice. In flashes of bright light and a slight increase in the strength of the wind, Shax disappeared. The wind stopped blowing. Leaves and debris quietly settled down on the floor.

Relieved that Shax was gone, Piper turned to see if Leo and the others were okay. But instead she caught sight on the ruined mausoleum. Pieces of chairs and flowers were spread out everywhere on the floor, mixed with leaves and broken vases. The three candles which the priestress had blown out earlier had fallen from the table. Piper crossed her arms, looked downwards and didn't say a word.

Paige stared at Prue and Piper with fear in her eyes. Fear of Shax. Fear of them. Fear of what she had just done. Without giving it a second thought, she turned around and ran out of the mausoleum. Prue took a few steps forwards.

"Wait!" she called out but it was too late. Paige had already run out of sight. Sighing, she pulled her hand through her hair. How were they ever going to get through this day? Hearing a slightly noise, she looked to her left and saw Cole brushing some debris of his clothes. She resisted the urge to send him flying out of the mausoleum, too much had happened already.

As Cole shimmered away into unknown territory, Prue swore not to let him get away for this. She'd give him exactly what he deserved.

* * *

Putting her hand on the doorknob, Prue turned it slightly before pushing the door open. The door slammed into the wall due to the force and echoed through the empty hallway, something that everyone except for Prue herself noticed. Once inside the manor, she placed her car keys on the table. Piper walked up to Prue and smiled slightly as she squeezed her hand.

"I'm going upstairs for a while," she whispered.

Prue said nothing but nodded and silently gave her approval. Piper gave Prue's hand another squeeze before letting go. Then she turned around and quietly walked up the stairs. As the sounds of her footsteps faded, a thick layer of silence covered the hallway. Victor had made his way into the living room, where he was staring at an old pictured. It was a picture of Prue, Piper and Phoebe standing in front of the manor that Grams had taken just a few days before the stroke that had led to her death.

Leo was still standing by the door, hands in his pockets and looking cautiously at Prue who seemed occupied with her own thoughts. He would have left her alone and gone upstairs to offer Piper his support whether she accepted it or not. But the dutiful part of him wouldn't let him.

There was something very strange about the girl in the mausoleum. Magical powers or incidents no longer surprised him or the Halliwells, but this was different. At first he had thought that the girl was a whitelighter-in-training, as he had never seen her before. But the look on the girl's face when she had orbed told him otherwise. Fear, shock, confusion... much like the expression Phoebe had had when she had discovered her ability to levitate or when Piper had accidently blown up a watermelon a few weeks ago. The girl wasn't aware of what orbing was, much less that she posses the ability to do it. Also, Prue had said something about the girl being the only one not freezing in the church except for Piper and herself.

The whole thing was too weird and too suspicious for Leo to let go of. As much as he wanted Piper and Prue to get to mourn in peace, he couldn't. If there was something going on... something that could possibly hurt Piper or his family, he couldn't just stand by and watch. The image of Piper in the hospital dead and her blood everywhere still haunted him at night. Prue didn't remember that sight since she had been affected by the time loop, but Leo did. The thought of a possible danger to Piper convinced him to take action.

"Prue."

Prue looked up and turned to him. Leo hesitated, not knowing exactly how to express himself.

"I... in the mausoleum," Leo started. "The girl who orbed... who was she?"

"A friend of Phoebe," Prue replied, then remembered that the girl hadn't exactly said how she had known Phoebe. Frowning, she realized that she didn't even know the girl's name and therefore couldn't have invited her to the funeral. And the girl could orb and was immune to Piper's freezing. Who was she?

"Was she a whitelighter?" Prue asked, but then the freezing came to her mind. "Or a witch? Good witches don't freeze, but whitelighters do."

"But witches can't orb, only whitelighters can do that," Leo told. He was relieved that Prue started to see what he did instead of ignoring it. Then again, she had always been the rational and logical one. "I'll go and check with the Elders... see if they know anything about her."

Prue nodded silently. Leo said nothing more. He dissolved in a mess of blue and shining orbs. The orbs swirled upwards towards the ceiling and then vanished.

Clutching a thick, white candle in her hand, Piper lit it with a match. Her face had a sour yet determined look as she set down the candle on the floor of the attic.

"I am a witch, damn it," she muttered, gazing slightly upwards as she placed more lit candles on the floor, forming a circle. "I've summoned people before and I'm going to summon Phoebe now whether you like it or not."

She was sad, angry and tired, all at the same time. She had had enough of spells that didn't work because of the stupid rules that the Elders had set.

"No more games, no more playing the good witch!" Piper said in an upset tone. She set down the last candle and then walked over to the Book of Shadows. The book was already open. "I want to talk to my sister, I need to talk to my sister. At the very least, you owe me that."

Taking a deep breath, she put her hands down on the book. She started to read the spell in a voice much calmer than the one she had just used.

"Hear my words, hear my cries spirit of the other side. Come to me, I summon thee. Cross now the great divide."

The moment she finished the spell, bright, shining orbs materialized within the circle of candles. Piper's heart beat faster at the thought of seeing Phoebe again. But when the glowing orbs formed a shape and finally a person, Piper didn't see Phoebe. Instead she was standing face to face with her grandmother. Sighing in disappointment, she tilted her head slightly to her left.

"Grams?"

Grams smiled towards Piper, looking exactly like she did when she was still alive. Except for the fact that she was transparent, surrounded by orbs and floating a few inches above the floor.

"Hello my darling," Grams greeted in her warm and loving tone. "How are you?"

"How am I?" Piper questioned in disbelief. "Are you kidding? Do you guys not get the news up there?"

The smile on Grams' face faded slightly, but she looked at Piper in deep understanding.

"I meant... how are you holding up?" Grams corrected herself in a soft voice. Piper sighed quietly, looking down for a few moments before turning to Grams again.

"Not very well," she answered sincerely. "I'm a little... lost. Why didn't you come before when I called after..."

"I couldn't, Piper," Grams cut off softly. "I was... busy."

Piper stared at Grams, puzzled at surprised at her choice of words. Somehow, busy wasn't a word that she normally associated with Grams who had been dead for over three years. She found it hard to believe that anyone who was dead or was living up there could be busy.

"You were busy?" she said, not bothering to hide the disbelief in her voice.

"I was with Phoebe," Grams revealed after a moment of hesitation. Upon hearing those words, disbelief and irritation left Piper's face.

"Oh," she said quietly. "Of course you were... Well, that makes sense. Is she okay?"

"Your mother and I are helping her through this," Grams told. Piper resisted the urge to roll her eyes at that answer.

"But how is she?" Piper persisted. Grams was silent. Her fingers nervously played with the hem of her sleeves and she bit her bottom lip.

"I'm not allowed to tell you," she finally answered. "Just as you're not allowed to see her... or at least not for a while, anyway."

"But why?"

Piper stared at Grams, not believing what she had just heart. She wasn't allowed to see Phoebe or know about her condition? That was it. The Elders' stupid rules had just become stupider and hit rock bottom. Any more of this and Piper would demand that Leo would orb her "up there" so that she could face the Elders' herself and let them know exactly what was on her mind.

"Because seeing Phoebe, right now... speaking to her, keeps her alive to you. Which keeps you from being able to move on with your life and continue with your destiny."

Piper thew up her hands lightly and gave a light snort in frustration. There was this whole talk about duties and destinies as a Charmed One again. She wanted no more to do with both things.

"What... destiny?" she asked bitterly. "It's over... it's done. Phoebe is gone. We buried the Elders' precious Charmed Ones when we buried Phoebe. And I..."

Her voice faded and despite the overwhelming emotions raging inside her she was at loss when it came to expressing them in words. She just wanted to talk to Phoebe or at least know how Phoebe was doing. Was that so much to ask after everything they had gone through since they had become the Charmed Ones?

"I know, sweetie... I know," Grams said as if she had read Piper's mind. "But if there's one thing you've learned over the last three years it's that there's a reason for everything... which means that there is a reason for this too. Your destiny still awaits."

Piper was silent as she looked at Grams again. The warm smile had returned to Grams' face and she extended her arm slightly towards Piper.

"Blessed be."

Grams' form quickly faded away and merged into the glowing orbs that had surrounded her before. In a few seconds the orbs swirled towards the ceiling... and she was gone. Piper was left standing by the Book of Shadows, hearing nothing but the strange quietness that had settled into the manor.

* * *

Keys scrambled as they were dropped and crashed against the floor. They were picked up by a pale hand only moments later, who quickly pushed one of the keys into a lock and turned it. A clicking sound was heard and the door opened.

In one swift movement Paige had rushed inside and slammed the door after her. Her fingers quickly locked the door. Closing her eyes, she released her tight grip on the keys, letting them drop to the floor. The sound of the keys crashing down again echoed briefly through the loft before being replaced by a soothing and safe silence.

Taking a deep breath, Paige leaned against the door. Her home provided a certain calm for her, one that she more than gladly welcomed after the events of Phoebe Halliwell's funeral. She had gone there, hoping for some closure to a question that she had spent years thinking about, but instead she had encountered things that she never in her wildest dreams thought existed.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, she realized that she was already an hour late for her date with Shane. She had completely forgotten about it. After the funeral she had just driven around town, not stopping, like she was afraid that if she stopped somewhere the demon or whatever it was would find her. But now when she was in the comfort and safety of her loft, her fear faded a little and she even thought of calling Shane to explain.

Paige walked over to the other side of the loft and reached out for the phone, but a chilling sensation in her neck caused her to stop and her body tensed. Turning her head a little, she saw that one of the windows had been left open. The chill she had felt was nothing but a small gust of wind. In three big strides, she made her way over to the window and shut it tightly. Wind was the last thing she wanted to think about.

As she returned to the phone, she suddenly felt the same chilling sensation again. She glanced at the other windows, but all of them had been shut tightly. Frowning, she dismissed it as her imagination and was just about to pick up the phone when the door suddenly slammed open. The winds blowing through the door and into the loft were so powerful that it blasted papers and small objects into Paige's face.

Her eyes felt dry and sandy. She had to squint her eyes and cover them partly with her hand in order to keep seeing. Stepping back, she accidently backed into the wall. Frames on the wall rattled, before falling to the floor. Glass broke into millions of small pieces, scattered all over the floor.

Light flashed through the loft. She didn't have the time to reflect on it at the time, but the way the light flashed was exactly the same way it had flashed in the mausoleum. Instinctively, she tried to back further away from the door but the wall kept her exactly where she was. And like before, the pale, ragged demon appeared staggering but still terribly frightening.

Paige opened her mouth to scream or to call for help, but not a sound escaped from her mouth. Too panicked, too shocked and too scared she could do nothing but close her eyes when a grey sphere came flying towards her from the demon's hand.

There was a tingling feeling in her stomach and before she knew it her head was spinning and grainy asphalt scraped against her arms and legs. The back of her head hurt from hitting against something hard. She was rolling for some reason. She dared to open her eyes. Maybe she had hit her head too hard but she could swear that she saw shining, blue orbs surrounding her body. When she finally stopped rolling, the first thing she noticed was a car full of drunk teens driving by. The orbs around her disappeared.

She sat up, trying to figure out why there was a car or asphalt in her loft to begin with. Another car drove by and her eyes widened slightly at what she saw.

She was no longer in her loft, but on the street not far from it. How did she get there? Had the grey sphere the demon sent at her struck her with such force that she had been thrown out the window and fallen to the street? Paige looked at herself. Except for a minor scrape on her leg that had been caused by rolling on the asphalt she was perfectly fine.

Looking up, Paige saw the windows of the loft. There were no traces of shattered glass. With the loft in sight, she suddenly remembered the demon. Whether he was still in the loft or not, Paige decided to follow her first instinct, which was to run like there was no tomorrow.

A few moments later, she thought that if she didn't run, there probably wouldn't be a tomorrow for her.

* * *

"You sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll just clean up and then go to bed," Prue answered, forcing herself to show a vague smile to her father. The last thing he needed was to worry about her. "I'll call you tomorrow."

She gave Victor one last hug, before releasing him and walking back into the manor. The sound of his car starting and driving away brought an old feeling back. She used to dread her father driving away, because she never knew if he was coming back or not.

Closing the door behind her, she looked up and saw Piper walking down the stairs. She had changed into more casual clothes and appeared to have calmed down. Prue forced herself to smile again, it was the only thing she could do in times like these. Smile, stay strong and not letting anyone know that she was falling apart inside.

"Did dad leave?" Piper asked, her voice a little shaky. Nodding, Prue walked over to Piper and gave her an assuring hug. She didn't realize until that Piper was crying again until she heard a small, sobbing noise coming from her.

"I was so afraid that I was going to lose you today," Piper whispered, burying her face in her sister's shoulder. Prue opened her mouth, but found that she for once didn't know what to say to make Piper feel better.

The attack at the mausoleum had been so sudden and with all that was going on they had been too vulnerable and unprepared to fight Shax. Had it not been for Piper's handy freezing power they and the others would have gotten killed or worse.

"We'll get through this," Prue finally said as she wanted to say something that might comfort Piper. "We just have to stick together."

Just as she finished the sentence, the familiar blue orbs appeared near the ceiling, growing and swirling until they materialised into Leo. Hearing the sound of the orbing, both Prue and Piper released each other and turned to Leo.

"Where have you been?" Piper asked in a voice mixed with worry and slight irritation. But despite that she covered the distance between her and Leo in two strides and hugged him tight, as if she wanted to assure herself that he was there and wasn't going anywhere.

"I went to speak with the Elders," Leo answered gently. Piper's brow was raised slightly and she looked into his eyes.

"The Elders?" she repeated. "Why would you go and see them?"

"The girl at the funeral," Prue told, saving Leo from Piper's annoyance. "There's something really weird about her, so Leo went up there to speak to the Elders. Speaking of them, what they did they tell you about her?"

"Nothing," Leo sighed, with the usual regretful look he got whenever he orbed up there and returned with no new information at all. "She's not a whitelighter, that's for sure."

"But Leo, if she's not a whitelighter then what is she?" Prue questioned. "I know I hit my head when Shax sent me flying, but both me and Piper saw her orb out of the wa..."

She stopped right in the middle of the sentence, staring at something by the door. Leo and Piper both cast a puzzled look at her, before turning around and looking for themselves. Four pair of eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Standing on the door step, with dirty and dusty clothes, ruffled hair and cheeks red after running for so long, was no other than Paige Matthews, staring back at the Halliwells just as they stared at her. After a while, she attempted to break the whole staring contest.

"The door was open..." she started, gesturing towards the door that Prue had forgotten to close. "I... This is... I need your help."

Prue and Piper exchanged one look, before walking over to Paige and helping her inside the manor. This girl was an innocent, no matter how strange her abilities were, and they couldn't turn her down.

"Come in and tell us what happened," Prue said gently and led Paige into the sitting room. Leo followed while Piper walked the other way and closed the front door. By the time she entered the sitting room, Paige was sitting down on the couch while Prue was sitting next to her. Feeling a little tired, Piper sat down on the available seat left on the couch, on Paige's right side.

Before Paige could tell them what was going on, before Piper could tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, a strange glowing light shone down on them from the chandelier. Paige, Prue, Piper and Leo all looked up, the latter ones thinking that someone was orbing down. But this light didn't come in a form of small orbs. It had a more blue color and shone directly on Prue, Piper and Paige. As if enchanted by the light, they could do nothing but look at it until it faded away. When it was gone, Paige lowered her gaze and turned it to Prue and Piper.

"What was that?"

Glances were exchanged across the entire room, yet no one seemed to know more than the other about what was going on.

"I... don't know," Piper almost whisper. The light seemed oddly familiar to her, but she couldn't place her finger on it.

It seemed like one of those moments when everyone would lose themselves in their own thoughts and no one would say anything for minutes. But suddenly Paige jumped up from the couched, startled and her face had a look of panic and fear.

"What is it?" Prue asked, getting up as well. Paige turned her head, looking around for something that she couldn't see. Finally, she turned to Prue.

"I... I felt a chill."

The front doors of the manor were blasted open by a strong gust of wind. Without thinking twice, Prue ran out into the hallway to see or rather stop what it was. But she had hardly the time to raise her hand before Shax appeared and sent her flying into dining room wall.

Piper and Paige both backed further into the sitting room, both felt powerless and panicked. Raising her hands, Piper flicked them and tried freeze or blow up, she didn't care which. But her attempts were in vain as she only managed to blow up small objects that were standing next Shax. It caught his attention and as he noticed Piper and Paige an evil smile was formed on his pale lips. Slowly, he dragged himself towards him.

As Leo saw the little effect Piper's power was having, he bolted forwards and literally threw himself on top of Shax. But Shax was much bigger and stronger. In one quick move he had thrown Leo off him and with a wave of his hand he sent Leo flying out through the open front doors and out of sight.

With all the disturbances gone, Shax again turned towards Piper and Paige. They backed against the wall, seeing that there were no ways to escape. If they ran, it would mean that they'd turn their backs towards him, leaving them vulnerable to his attacks. And he'd come after them, no matter how fast they ran.

Paige felt her pulse quicken and the tingling feeling in her stomach returned. Before she knew it, she had orbed out of the manor. Piper looked to her side, feeling shock and fear now that she was all alone. She glanced at Shax, who was now less than a feet close. In a last desperate attempt she flicked her hands again, but only managed to freeze a magazine that was flying around the room. A cold, rough hand wrapped around her neck and she closed her eyes.

In the dining room, Prue managed to sit up and pull out a porcelain shard that had drilled into her left arm when Shax had sent her flying. Struggling to get up on her feet, she almost tripped over a chair as she stumbled into the sitting room. Just in time to see Shax with his hand around Piper's neck. Her pulse quickened at the sight and her blood boiled with anger.

"No..." she whispered and raised her hand.

But before she could move, light flashed across the sitting room and Shax disappeared out of sight, taking Piper with him. The winds that had been blowing calmed down before disappearing altogether. Next to the spot where Piper had been standing, blue orbs materialized into Paige. Somewhere out in the hallway, Leo had gotten up on his feet. He entered the sitting room and stared at the others.

"Piper..."

"No..." Prue whispered to herself. Her knees weakened and she dropped down on the floor, unable to stand for herself. Tears ran down her cheeks but it was like she didn't acknowledge them. All she did was to stare at the spot where Piper had been standing.

And there was silence.


	2. Charmed Again II

**Fighting fate  
Part 2: Charmed Again II**

A/N: This chapter has taken ages to finish... I started on it somewhere during August 2003 and got stuck after the first scene. I decided to start working on it again in April this year and finished it now. I've enjoyed writing it though and am happy that I didn't give up on it. I hope you enjoy reading it and let me know what you think. :)

* * *

It was like any other normal night. Dark and puffy clouds covered what really was a starlit night sky. The leaves on the trees moved softly as the wind blew against them, causing the hardly visible shadows on the ground to shift each time a leaf moved. In normal neighbourhoods, normal houses and normal families, parents put their children to bed. They tucked them in, read stories and then went off to bed by themselves, because tomorrow had nothing but work and the same old routine in store for them.

But in a house were nothing was normal and routine was a word that belonged in a foreign language, Prue Halliwell sat in the sitting room and flipped the pages of the Book of Shadows fanatically, almost ripping out the pages in the process. Her brows were wrinkled in a frown and her eyes read through the pages fast in concentration. Standing a few feet away from the coffee table was Paige Matthews, a few years younger than Prue and a lot more confused about what was going on. She seemed terribly uncomfortable as she watched Prue, not knowing if she should help, stay, leave or even talk. Busy with looking through the Book of Shadows, Prue didn't notice Paige standing there and had forgotten all about her.

The uncomfortable moment was interrupted when small orbs lighted up a spot in the back of the room. In a few moments Leo had orbed in, looking as confused and saddened as when he had left. Hearing the sound of the orbing, Prue got up and turned to her brother-in-law.

"What did the Elders say?" she asked, her harsh voice revealing that she wasn't in the mood for anything irrelevant that he might have to say.

"They don't know where Shax could have taken Piper," Leo answered and was just as disappointed as Prue was with the answer. The disappointment could be read in Leo's face, but Prue kept hers behind a mask of calm and determination. She turned back to the Book of Shadows and closed it before picking it up.

"Leo, you have to orb down there and try to sense her from there," Prue ordered. "I'm not losing another sister."

She didn't even have to ask. As soon as she had finished the sentence, blue orbs appeared around Leo and they swirled around him as he disappeared. Prue left the sitting room and started to head towards the stairs. Paige, who had done nothing but watched during the whole thing, gathered her courage and walked after Prue.

"Wait," she said, causing Prue to stop and turn around. Paige was about to say something, when the look in Prue's eyes made her at a complete loss of words. So much sadness, pain and suffering in her eyes that Paige recognized it. She had seen it every time she had looked into the mirror the first few months after her parents' death. Paige had never had any siblings nor did she know whether Prue was close to her sisters or not, but she could tell that the recent events was starting to take a toll on her, even if Prue didn't want to show it.

"I wanna help," Paige finally said. "That... thing was after me and I'm the one who dragged it here. If there's anything I can do..."

Prue nodded silently and Paige's words faded. She followed Prue up the stairs, still not knowing what was going on or what she was going to help with. One thing she did know was that she had stumbled into this whole mess and that she couldn't leave until everything had been resolved.

* * *

A loud explosion and a scream echoed through the dungeons. It was simply one of many that had been heard the past few hours. Everyone who had heard it had grown used to it by now, but still each time the sounds left a worried thought in the back of their minds. Another explosion was heard but this time the unfortunate demon who died did not have the chance to scream.

"Damn that witch..." a demon with dark tattoos all over him hissed. "Why can't we just kill her and get it over with?!"

The demon who was known as the leader of the small group turned to the tattooed one. Despite his rugged and quite plain appearance compared to other demons, Shax's reputation preceded him and there was no one who did not respect his power. The fact that he had killed an innocent and injured two Charmed Ones in one sweep had only heightened his status in the Underworld.

"Because..." Shax slowly said. "...the Source has ordered us not to."

"Why?!" several of the demons exclaimed.

They were all frustrated and scared despite that the great Shax was there. The witch trapped in the deepest dungeon was dangerous. She had been brought there in a state of panic and was still in it. But the panic was to her advantage whether she knew it or not. The moment a demon tried to approach her he was either blown up or frozen and then blown up.

"We have our orders!" Shax shouted at them and they backed off from him. "We are to keep her here and alive until he says otherwise! Just make sure that she doesn't escape!"

None of the other demons dared to protest against him, but they all jumped once again when a loud sound echoed through the dungeons. But this time it was not an explosion, but a desperate voice sobbing and screaming for help.

"LEO! Leo, where are you?!"

What neither Piper, Shax or the group of demons noticed was another presence in the dungeons. He was standing in the shadows, behind a protective wall and listening to all that was said. Once he had come to the conclusion that he had heard enough, Cole Turner shimmered out of the Underworld.

* * *

The crystal spun around in erratic circles, barely an inch above the large map of San Fransisco. It had been doing that for a long time, yet the spinning was constant and no magical power pulled the crystal towards a place on the map. Frustrated, Prue sighed and let go of the crystal. It bounced lightly against the map before it rolled off and fell to the floor.

"Not working?" Paige said. She was sitting on an old chair and had not dared to disturb Prue by talking.

"No... my guess is that they've taken her somewhere else... the Underworld perhaps," Prue answered and picked up the crystal. "Scrying won't help if she's there."

"Scrying?"

"Yeah... it's using a crystal to guide me towards her or at least finding out where she is," Prue explained. She left the crystal on the table and then got up to take a look at the Book of Shadows again. Even though she had gone through the entire book at least three times, she opened the book again hoping that she had missed something or that some divine, upper power would help her find something.

Paige bit her lip and got up as well. Although Prue had accepted her offer to help, it had not taken Paige long to figure out that there was not actually much that she could do. It was not like she could call the police, tell them that a freaky looking monster was after her but had kidnapped someone else instead. During the hours Leo had been gone, Prue had spent most of it in the attic trying out different way to find out where Piper was and had not said much at all.

She nervously stuck her hands in the pockets of her jacket as she looked around the attic. Like in any other normal house, it was filled with old objects, heirlooms and furniture. But amongst all those normal things were bottles of mysterious liquids, crystals, candles, various strange objects, jars containing dried herbs and a cauldron here and there. If Prue had not walked around using those things Paige doubted that she would have noticed them at all. They seemed to blend in so perfectly with all those old heirlooms and furniture that it seemed like they had always been a part of the attic.

"So... is there anything I can do?" Paige finally asked, tired of standing around and doing nothing.

Prue looked up briefly at Paige, then at a shelf of glass jars and bottles that was directly behind her.

"There's recipe for a potion here that might work..." she started but then became quiet as she saw the confused look on Paige face when the word 'Potion' was mentioned. Prue looked at Paige closely for a while, then left the book and walked towards her. "Paige... it is Paige, right? Do you have any idea what's going on? Why Shax was after you?"

"Uh... yes and... no?"

Prue let out another frustrated sigh and ran her hand through her hair. She didn't mean anything bad by it but when Paige noticed her frustration she immediately frowned and crossed her arms.

"Hey, just because you're into this whole potions-scrying-people-dissolving-into-bright-lights thing doesn't mean that I'm supposed to understand everything you're saying!" Paige protested. "People don't exactly have monsters barging into your house every..."

"Okay, I get it!" Prue cut off. "That was a demon, okay?! Assassin working for the most evil of them all. We're witches and so are you!"

The uncomfortable silence that had plagued that manor returned once again. Paige just stared at Prue as if she was not sure of what she had just heard. Frankly, Prue understood her reaction. Her mind drifted briefly to that day almost four years ago when Phoebe had told her and Piper that she had read the spell and that all of them were witches. She sighed again, but this time at herself for letting her frustration over not finding Piper get the worst of her and offending Paige.

"Look... I know it's hard to believe," Prue continued in a milder tone. She walked past Paige and picked up a few jars behind her. "I had a hard time believing it too when I first found out... and to be honest we're not even sure of exactly what you are."

"Oh, that makes it sound a whole lot better," Paige said sarcastically and turned around to face her.

"Well, I don't know what else to tell you," Prue answered. "When Piper used her power in the church I wasn't effected because I'm a witch. But you weren't either... and then you orbed..."

"...orbed?"

"It's basically like teleporting... moving from one place to another," Prue explained as she set down the jars next to a cauldron and started to work on the potion. "Orbing can only be done by whitelighters. But the thing is that Piper's powers works on whitelighter and Leo checked with the Elders and even they had no idea who you are."

The long explaination only served to raise Paige's curiousity even more since she did not fully understand what Prue was saying about all the whitelighters and Elders. But she decided not to ask more about it, at least not at the time. Prue seemed to be too focused on the potion and Paige had a feeling Prue would rather find her sister rather than to explain every word of the whole whitelighter thing to her.

"So... what is this potion going to do?"

Before Prue had the chance to answer her, a slight shift in the air was felt. A spot a few feet away from them blurred, as strange as it looked. Paige instinctively took a step back while Prue's entire body tensed. Out of the clur Cole appeared, looking just as scruffy and unruly as he had at the funeral. He gave Paige a curious look before he turned to Prue.

Not one word was exchanged between them. Prue was too busy waving her arm and flinging athames and other sharp objects at Cole while he was busy trying to dodge them. Porcelain, wood, metal and glass crashed all around the attic and left a large amount of sharp debris on the floor.

"Damn it, Prue!" Cole yelled after a few long minutes. He ducked a mirror that came flying towards him. "Would you just... listen?!"

When Prue did not show any sign of even hearing what he had said, he shimmered out of sight. Prue's hand stopped when it was half raised and she looked around the attic nervously, knowing that Cole could appear anywhere and any moment. Paige, who had more or less taken cover under the table, got up shakingly. She took a slow look at her surroundings, shocked at seeing all the debris around them. Old lamps lay shattered and books had fallen out of the bookcases. Even an old, broken doll had been unfortunate enough to be underneath a few large boxes.

"Okay... is there a cleaning spell in that big, old book of yours?" Paige joked nervously.

"He can come back any minute," Prue said, not lowering her arm and slowly walking to the center of the room. She kept turning around as if she wanted to keep her eye on every inch of the attic at the same time.

Paige looked around as well, but not for Cole. Her eyes suddenly caught sight on a large, leatherbound book that had fallen out of a box. It was not as big as the Book of Shadows and judging by the state of the book it was a lot newer. Temporarily forgetting about everything around her, Paige bent down and picked it up. After dusting it off lightly, she opened the book and was greeted by images of smiling faces.

A family album.

Looking at the pictures, Paige quickly realized that it was not that big of a family. It was always the same three faces that appeared on the pictures. Prue, Piper and a third one Paige assumed was Phoebe. The pictures were taken during different time periods and once in a while there would be an older, yet proud looking woman in the pictures. There was also another woman who was in a few pictures. She had a kind, gentle face but she never appeared in any pictures other than those of the three sisters as children.

A small feeling of sadness entered Paige as she looked at the woman and knowing that this woman was probably Patty Halliwell, the one who she had suspected to be her biological mother. Patty Halliwell had been dead for many years, a fact that Paige had picked up during the time when she had desperately searched for her biological parents. Even though Paige knew that it was not her mother, seeing those pictures stirred up emotions inside her and she quickly turned to the next page.

The first picture that caught her attention was one of the three sisters standing in front of the house, probably the manor. Judging by the looks of it the picture was probably a few years old. All three sisters were smiling at the camera and Paige wondered briefly if they had any idea how things were going to end up. One sister dead and a chaotic web of magic and demons. Her fingertips touched the glossy surface of the picture and the part where Piper stood...

And then it happened.

She gasped, cold air entering her and filling her lungs. The area around her was quickly replaced by another. It happened so fast that she could not tell when the transition had happened.

_Everything around her was made of stone. Stone wall, stone floor, stone doors... all lit up and colored red by torches that never stopped to burn. She felt dizzy by looking at the shadows dancing all around her. She heard a scream. It was not one of anger but one of great pain and desperation. The scream was calling for some. Crying. She spun and saw a figure half sitting and half lying on the floor, crying as she screamed names that no one else heard. _

_Piper._

Paige snapped out of it almost as fast as she had gone into it. She saw the picture of the three sisters and the family album felt heavy in her arms. Looking up, she saw that she was still in the attic, amongst all the debris and with Prue on the other side. It felt as if she had not left the attic at all. But what was it that she had seen and how had it happened?

Prue seemed to have noticed that something was wrong as well, because she dropped her guard and quickly hurried over to Paige's side.

"What's wrong, what happened?" she asked, helping Paige sit down on a couch that had been spared.

"I..." Paige started but she was not sure of how to express herself. The family album slid out of her hands and fell onto her knees. "I... touched the picture and I think I saw something."

In the corner of her eyes she saw what looked like a frown on Prue's face. Not one of irritation or frustration, but one of thinking and almost concern. It was an unusual combination of motherly and sisterly and Paige wondered briefly whether she had looked at Phoebe the same way too.

"A premonition," Prue corrected with a hint of sadness in her voice. "Tell me what you saw."

"It wasn't much, but..." Paige started but she was cut off by a third voice.

"Will you listen to me now?! Piper is in trouble!"

Both Prue and Paige were startled upon hearing the voice, Paige drawing a quick breath and Prue practically jumping. Instinctively she raised her hand again as she turned around to face Cole, who had now shimmered back into the attic. He was holding his hands almost raised, as if trying to make Prue see that he was not going to fire any energy balls at her any time soon. Prue's first thought was to telekinetically throw something at him again, but the words he had said had had an effect on her. She looked at Cole closely, as if thinking hard about whether to attack him or not.

"Where is she?" Prue finally said, her eyes narrowing slightly as she took one step towards Cole.

"In the Underworld," Cole scowled, clearly irritated at Prue's suspiciousness.

"She's scared," Paige unexpectedly filled in. Both Cole and Prue turned around and looked at her, making Paige feel a little insecure. For a moment she actually doubted that she had seen something after touching the photo. "I... I think I saw in my... whatever it was called. She's trapped in a dungeon or something... and she's calling for someone before no one's coming."

Prue looked so relieved and thankful that she could have walked over there and given Paige a hug. But instead of doing that she gave a small nod of sincere gratitude, before walking over to the Book of Shadows and starting to flip the pages again. Paige felt relieved as well, whatever she had said seemed to have been good.

"She's alive, thank God..." Prue said quietly. "Okay, I know I saw a teleportation spell somewhere..."

"The Source has Shax and dozens of other demons guarding her," Cole pointed out. "I don't think you can't just go in and..."

"You know what, Cole?!" Prue snapped angrily, looking up from the book briefly to glare at him. "No one here cares what you think. I'm going to get Piper back and..."

She was cut off by the familiar sounds of someone orbing into the manor. The bright lights lit up portions of the attic briefly before materializing back into Leo. If it was anyone who looked tired, it was him. It wasn't just obvious in his eyes and face, but also at his overall appearance. He had not changed out of the clothes he had worn at the funeral and they had become wrinkly and dirty since.

The grandfather clock in the hallway suddenly struck one and alerted them all of the fact that it had been two full hours since Shax had appeared and taken Piper away.

"I found her, she's..." Leo started quickly.

"In the Underworld," Prue finished and started to look very tired too. "Yeah, we know. What I need to know is exactly what kind of demons are guarding her and how many of them."

Leo looked at Paige and Cole dumbly, wondering how Prue had already gotten all the information before his return. But asking was a waste of time, time that flew away while Piper was trapped in the Underworld. Instead of asking Leo walked over to Prue and started the flip through the pages of the book himself. It didn't take long before he had identified almost all of the demons he had seen guarding Piper in the Underworld.

"I think that was one was there... at least two Grimlocks and there was a darklighter too."

"Okay..." Prue said, nodding slowly. "We need to get started on vanquishing potions and spells. Leo, you get started with this one. I'll do the Grimlock vanquishing potions and find the spells."

"Got it," Leo answered, quickly copying down the ingridients for the potion on a small sheet of paper before heading downstairs.

As soon as he was gone, Cole shimmered away without as much as a single word. Prue didn't seem to care much about it. She had gone back to the cauldron and was already trying to finish the potions she had started on. It became quiet again, save for the sound of the wooden spoon scraping against the cauldron bottom when Prue stirred the potion.

Paige sat down on the old chair again, finding nothing else to do. She began to wonder what in the world she was doing there at the Halliwell manor. First she almost been killed, miracolously escaped from her apartment and then run all the way there. Now she was in the middle of the planning of this whole rescue mission. Things had surely become strange and twisted since the moment she had walked out of the office to attend the funeral. But the fact that she still did not know what was going on lingered inside her and sitting in the chair doing nothing was not helping anyone at all.

"Paige..." Prue said slowly, too busy with the potion to look at her. "Could you look up how much chisandra root I need? I've marked the recipe in the book, it's in there between the harpies and the kill Nicholas spell."

"Yeah..." Paige answered and got up willingly. She walked over to the book and started to look for the recipe. As she briefly caught sight of detailed information on a necromancer who liked Clark Gable movies and lamb chops for dinner, she truly smiled for the first time that day at the bizarreness of it all.

* * *

Unknown to both Prue and Paige, Cole had not shimmered out of the manor when Leo had left the attic. Instead he had followed him and shimmered down to the kitchen, where he now spoke to Leo while Leo was working on the potion.

"It's a trap," Cole said as he was pacing back and forth around the kitchen. "The Source wants to lure you there by using Piper."

"I know," Leo answered. "So does Prue, but we can't leave Piper there. I'm not going to let her die!"

"I'm not saying that!" Cole snarled, clearly offended by the last few words Leo had spoken. "But there's something else going on that you don't know anything about! Why do you think Shax attacked at the funeral?!"

"To get rid of the Charmes ones... those that are left! Why else?!" Leo almost yelled and angrily threw a pinch of mysterious black powder into the pot. Cole took a deep breath and calmed down slightly. He then stopped pacing and leaned lightly against the kitchen table.

"Not in the way you think."

Leo looked up at Cole, wondering what he was talking about. He was just about to ask when Paige came walking into the kitchen. Her face had a look of confusion, as if she had just gotten lost and was about to ask for directions. But once she noticed that she had actually ended up in the kitchen here face lit up slightly.

"Took ages to find my way here..." she chuckled and Leo made a good attempt to smile back at her in return. Cole simply stood silently in the shadows. "Ah... Prue sent me down here to get something..." She suddenly made an awkward face. "...I think she said frog tongues?"

"Oh, it's over there," Leo told and pointed at a plastic bag he had taken out of the freezer just a few minutes ago. Paige walked a little closer to it to take a better look. Once she discovered that the frog tongues literally were what they were called, she made a disgusted look on her face.

"Oh... would you look at that..." she said lightly and spoke as if to convince herself. "Real frog tongues. Nice and frozen. Well, I'll just be going back to the attic... with the frog tongues."

Paige pinched the plastic with her forefinger and her thumb, careful not to hold the bag too close to her, and slowly walked out of the kitchen. Once the sound of her footsteps were gone and she had headed up the stairs, Cole spoke again.

"Who is she?"

"Paige?" Leo said. "She's a... actually, we don't know what she is and neither does. We're guessing that she's a whitelighter or a witch but not even the Elders know what she is. She was chased here by Shax..."

"Exactly," Cole finished smugly. Leo looked at him in a mix of confusion and curiousity.

"What do you mean?"

"I heard a few rumors while I was down there," Cole told and absentmindedly started play with an apple. "Shax was sent out to kill Paige, not Prue and Piper. It's just a coincidence that she happened to be at Phoebe's..." He looked pained at his own mention of her name and was silent for a few seconds. "The point is, the Source views Paige as a threat, especially now that she's met Prue and Piper. A threat that he had thought that he had disposed off."

Leo suddenly looked up at Cole, causing him to accidently spill some of the potion on the stove as he was trying to pour it into small vials. As he was nervously trying to wipe it off with a dig rash he although pushed over the vials as well. Once he considered himself done with cleaning up, leaving potion spots that would make Piper go crazy, he looked up at Cole again.

"You mean the Power of Three...?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Had it not been for the crisis, Paige thought that Prue might have been very proud at herself for mixing up so many potions and writing those spells in just one hour. Not that Paige had known Prue long enough to draw that conclusion. But by the way Prue did most of the things herself without asking anyone for help she got the impression that Prue was a proud person.

After what had seemed like a long hour, the preparations were finally complete. All the potions had been made and the spells written. They were all lined up on the table in the attic waiting to be used. Prue started to pack all the vials into a messenger bag, one that she would carry with her since holding all the vials was not really an option. Leo had left his on the table as well and when he had emerged from the kitchen Cole had silently tagged along, much to Prue's unspoken annoyance.

"You got all the spells?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," Prue answered and pointed at the table. "Over there by the book."

Leo walked over to the table where the Book of Shadows had been left often. Just next to the page with Shax's vanquishing spell was a sheet of paper with all the vanquishing spells that Prue had written down. He grabbed it and handed it over to Prue, who folded it neatly before putting it in the bag.

"Okay, just something before we go," she said and turned to Leo once she was done. "As soon as we get there, orb out and find Piper. I'll take care of the demons and try to distract them."

"But that would leave you al..." Leo began to protest.

"Leo, if you get hit by the darklighter we won't have a chance at all to get out of there," Prue reminded sternly. "Now, I'll hold them off for as long as I can. When you've gotten Piper, I need you to take her back here safely and then go back for me... is that clear?"

It seemed obvious to everyone else in the attic that it was not. Leo was looking extremely doubtful about it. It was his wife they were going to save and he wanted to save her just as much as Prue wanted to but what Prue was suggesting was simply dangerous. But this was Prue and once she had made up her mind there was no arguing about it. He nodded solemnly.

"Okay, let's go," Prue ordered and took Leo's hand. "Orb us down."

"Hey!" Paige suddenly exclaimed and stepped towards them. "What about me?"

"You stay here," Prue said in the same commanding voice as when she had spoken to Leo. "It's too dangerous down there and Shax will be there too."

"But... I wanna help," Paige said, thoroughly frustrated but not wanting to give up. She gave Prue a pleading look and for a moment Prue almost looked regretful.

"You can't... I'm sorry. Leo?"

Paige opened her mouth to protest again but by then both Leo and Prue had orbed out of sight. She rolled her eyes once they were gone and put her hands on her hips. Without knowing it, she then started to pace back and forth just like Prue had done before. Occasionally she let out a frustrated and irritated sigh. Cole watched her for a while.

So this was the girl the Source feared so much. She was normal, average. Looking at her there was nothing that really set her apart from any other human. Yet some weird twist of fate had caused her to end up as Shax target and had brought her to the Charmed Ones. The ones that remained. Cole forced himself to push the thought of Phoebe aside, now was not the time for him to dwell on her.

"You want to help them?" he asked, almost startling Paige after the long silence.

"Well, yeah," Paige answered, surprised that he even needed to ask. "I know there's not much I can do but..."

"Fair enough," Cole cut off. "Let's go."

Paige stopped and turned to him, giving him a curious stare.

"How are we supposed to follow them?" she asked.

"Easy, I'll shimmer both of us down there," Cole explained, demostrating quickly as he shimmered out and then reappared two feet away from his original position. "Wanna get going now?"

Paige looked truly interested in what he had just done and did not hesitate at all. She moved towards him but suddenly stopped as she caught sight of the Book of Shadows. It was still lying on the table where Prue had left it, open and with the illustration of Shax glaring menacingly back at her. For some reason Paige took a long look at the vanquishing spell next to the illustration. She only needed to read through it twice before it had embedded itself in her mind. After that, she walked towards Cole again and stood next to him.

"I'm ready, take me down... there," she said, pausing for a moment in order to try to imagine the place they were going to. Cole simply shrugged and extended his hand to Paige but she merely gave him a weird look. It almost made him chuckle when he remembered the first time Prue had to shimmer with him.

"You have to hold my hand," Cole said, using the exact same words he had used back then.

Paige gave him another weird look but she complied, although felt a little awkward doing so. They moment she put her hand in his, both their figures blurred briefly before they vanished from the manor.

* * *

A fireball flew by her, narrowly missing her ear, and struck a demon who had been unfortunate enough to stand directly behind her. The air suddenly smelled of burnt, a few of her hair strands had been touched by the fireball. But Prue was too busy to even think of it. She was engaged in a fight with the very demon who had thrown the fireball.

One punch to his face, another to his face again from her left fist and then she spun around and landed a kick right across his face, striking it for the third time in a few seconds. This was a good enough distraction. The second the demon had fallen to the floor she raised her arm, sending him flying up in the air. When she let go of her telekinetic hold on him, he dropped face first to the ground.

Turning around, Prue had just enough time to reach into her bag before two other demons came running towards her. Once she felt the right vial in her hand, she drew it out of the bag and threw it to the ground. As soon as the vial left her hand she turned around and threw herself as far away as she could. A moment later the vial broke against the floor and a heavy smoke emerged from it. The smoke quickly formed a thick curtain, seperating the demons from her.

Although it was temporary and would not last that long, it allowed her a few precious moments to stand up and observe her surroundings. Her chest heaved up and down rapidly. Looking around to her left, she saw two more demons who looked way too enthusiastic about attacking her. There were four other to her right, also looking for a chance to attack but they were positioned a little further away. Prue took one deep breath and instinctively chose to attack the demons before they attacked her. Her only thought was to fight, fight and vanquish. She had to keep them out of the way, she had to distract them.

There was too much at stake.

And she kept hoping for Leo to hurry up.

* * *

Despite Prue's effort to lure as many of the demons to her, the dungeon Piper was kept in was still heavily guarded. Leo peered at the guards from his hiding place behind a wall. There were five of them, one of them a darklighter of all things. Had Leo been a man to act with his mind as reason he would have retreated and gone back to Prue to replan their strategy. But it was his heart that was in control and at the moment Piper mattered more than the risk of getting shot by a darklighter.

Backing a little more into his hiding place, Leo closed his eyes and concentrated. A wave of warmth passed through him, leaving tingling sensations in his entire body. When those sensations quickly faded into nothing, he opened his eyes. His entire appeareance had been changed. Looking at his hands, he saw that they had become larger and that his skin had acquired a bizarre shade of blue. He was no longer dressed in the wrinkly and dusty funeral suit but in a set of torn and old clothes. His hair had grown much longer. Although Leo could not see it, his face had changed as well. Feeling satisfied with the transformation, Leo left his hiding place and boldly walked up to the demonic guards.

As soon as they saw him, they seemed to look both relieved and relaxed, but at the same time very respectful of him. One of them even bowed when he approached them.

"I've come for the witch," Leo spoke, not in his own voice. It was much darker, fuller... and it belonged to Shax.

"But wasn't the order to keep her here and watch..." the darklighter started.

"I know the orders!" Leo snapped and hoped that he looked frightening and intimidating enough. "But her sister is here and she will come here looking for her! I have orders from the Source himself to move her to another place!"

The guards exchanged a look, then quickly stepped aside for him. A million outcries could not have expressed Leo's relief enough. But he kept up his act and quickly walked past the guards and into a dark pssage. He did not have to walk far to see where it lead. Only a minute or two later he stood before the entrance to a dungeon. The doors had been blown up, as well as portions of the walls. There was dust and blood all over the floor, the only remains of dozens of demons.

Leo cautiously looked over his shoulder and, once he was certain that no one would discover it, the glamour faded away and he reverted back to his usual self. He moved quietly towards blown up door and carefully stepped over it and into the dungeon. At first he did not see anyone there but on a second look he spotted Piper huddled together in a corner. Upon seeing her he could not help but to smile in relief and he immediately ran into the dungeon.

"Piper!"

Piper looked up when she heard her name and discovered Leo coming towards her. At first she didn't move, as if afraid that he wasn't real. But when Leo finally approached her and drew her protectively into an embrace she weakly hugged him back.

"I was so scared..." she murmured between sobs. "I called for you and you didn't come..."

"It's okay now, it's okay," Leo assured, tightening his hold on her a little. "I'm gonna get you out of here now. But we can't orb... there's a spell. I have to get you out of there disguised as Shax."

"Where's Prue?" Piper asked when she realized that Leo had come alone.

"She's distracting some of the demons that are guarding you," Leo told. "We have to get her and then we'll all orb out of here."

Piper nodded and got up on her feet with Leo's help. Two minutes later she came out of the dark passage, dragged out of there by Leo who had glamoured into Shax again. The demons scowled as they caught sight of her and all of them looked very tempted to finish her off then and there. But fear of Shax and orders from the Source held them back, something that Leo was grateful for. Piper was in no state to fight and Leo had little powers who could be useful.

They had almost made it out of the area. They had just been three steps away and out of sight. Three steps from safety. But a chill was felt throughout the dark corridor, felt by all the demons, Leo and Piper.

A chill that meant the arrival of the real Shax.

* * *

It seemed like there was no end to them. Prue had fought them off to the best of her ability and yet they showed no sign of backing down or increasing in numbers. Her shoulder hurt from being thrown into the wall twice and she was sure that there was a bleeding wound somewhere because there were large dark red stains on her shirt.

With her frustration and anger growing, she felt all her energy gather at her fingertips. The new wave of attacking demons were thrown back at least thirty feet as Prue held out both hands in front of her. Wasting no time, Prue closed her eyes and focused hard. She felt an odd sensation of being removed from of where she was and a moment later she had astral projected right in front of the demons.

She instinctively grabbed the nearest demon by his horns, who had not even gotten up after being thrown back by her. Holding on to the horns, she delivered three quick kicks into his stomach before throwing him aside. Returning to her physical body, Prue immediately stuck her hand into her bag of potions and pulled up five random bottles. Using telekinesis, she sent them flying towards the group of demons and as they broke against the floor, a huge explosion occurred and the shockwave made Prue trip and lose her balance.

At that very moment, she was no longer alone.

Cole and Paige appeared out of nowhere right next to Prue and she almost threw another random vial at them, thinking that they were demons. Cole looked curiously at the burning inferno that the demons had become.

"And here we were thinking that you could use our help," he muttered.

Paige paid no attention to him and instead she walked over to Prue and helped her up on her feet. Prue shot Paige what seemed like a glare, although a part of her looked relieved.

"What are you doing here?" she asked Paige sternly.

"I thought that I could... you know, help," Paige answered and looked at the fires over her shoulder. "Not that you actually needed it... but hey, it's the thought that counts, right?"

She managed to smile nervously at Prue.

"Let's get out of here before more of them come," Prue ordered and dug into her bag. She then handed over about five different vials to Paige. "Here, take these and throw them the moment you see a demon."

"Got it," Paige confirmed and followed Prue who confidently walked away.

Cole let Prue lead the way although he knew it perfectly himself. He followed her as well, hands in his trenchcoat. But they had hardly walked for a minute before they heard footsteps from around the corner. Prue stopped and waved for Paige and Cole to do the same. All three of them pressed themselves against the wall, making themselves as less visible as possible.

The footsteps became louder, whoever they belonged to they were coming closer. Prue tightened the grip on her vial, her heart pounding fast. What kind of demons were coming this time? She slowly began to count down.

Three.

Two.

One!

Prue saw the shadows move on the floor and rushed forth. She was just about throw down the vials when she discovered that the ones who had come around the corner were none other than Piper and Leo. For a few seconds Prue was completely shocked. Piper was supporting Leo and had half dragged him as he had walked. She saw Prue and her injures and became equally shocked.

"Piper..." Prue whispered, cover the distance between her and her sister in two long steps. She threw her arms around Piper and held her tightly. "Thank God, you're alright... you are alright, right?

"Yeah, but Leo's not," Piper answered as Prue drew back. Her voice trembled as she spoke, not only was it out of fear of losing a sister but also her husband. "We have to get out of here now. Leo's hurt."

Looking at Leo, Prue concluded that he must have taken many hits and fireballs. He suffered from a few burnts and his face was torn up after taking too many punches. There was no doubt in that Leo was in no state to orb himself out of the Underworld, much less orbing everyone else with him.

"Shax..." Leo suddenly whispered. Prue's eyes widened.

"What?"

"He's... here..."

The moment Leo finished the sentence they all felt it. The chill. It was like a warning to them, a warning for someone that they could not defeat or escape. Prue instinctively pushed Piper and Paige behind her as she kept looking around and tried to foresee where the danger would come from.

"Piper, Paige... get back," she said slowly, struggling to sound calm.

Cole took a step forth and raised his hand slightly. Energy gathered in his palm, shaping itself into a glowing sphere as he stood, watched and waited for Shax. After that, no one moved or spoke. All was quiet and calm. But the chill was still there, lingering, and everyone could hear their own hearts pounding rapidly.

Then suddenly Cole turned around and the next moment he had been thrown back into the corridor where they had came frm. He clutched his stomach, where one of Shax's grey energy balls had struck him full force. Prue only had the chance to cast a quick look at him before she felt herself being lifted from the ground by some invisible force. The wind started to blow furiously around her, making her hair whip at her face and her eyes feel try. She kept them open long enough to see Shax standing a few feet away from her, before she was careless thrown aside and into the wall.

The fear pumping and growing inside Paige was further fuel by Shax's sudden appearance. He was there, he had taken out both Prue and Cole in less than a minute. Her heart pounded so fast and so loud that it seemed to ring in her ears. Blood rushed to her face, reddening her cheeks. Her body trembled and she instinctively backed against the wall. She was afraid, she did not want to be but she was.

But that fear caused the same tingling sensations she had felt earlier in the church to return. Her body felt sizzling and light for a few moments, before she dissolved into blue orbs and disappeared.

In the corner of her eyes Piper saw it happening, Paige orbing out of sight. She did not care whether it was intentional or not, but panic rose inside her as she found herself staring right at Shax as he slowly dragged his way towards her. Piper opened her mouth, perhaps to speak or scream but not a single sound escaped from her. She held on to Leo tightly, for both his and her own sake. Shax seemed to walk slowly towards her, as if trying to scare and taunt her by going that slow.

_I'm not letting him hurt Leo or Prue, I can't!_ Piper thought.

Lacking confidence but full of determination she dared to remove one hand from Leo. The other one still supported Leo, who could still barely stand. She took a deep breath and noticed how much her entire body was shaking out of fear. Shax was less than ten feet away when he stopped and started to raise his hand. Instinctively Piper raised hers fast and flicked it.

Through the light sound of the wind blowing all around the corridor, a far more disturbing one was heard. A piece of flesh lay on the floor in a puddle of dark blue blood. When Piper dared to look she saw that Shax was kneeling on the floor, clutching his right arm that was bleeding and half of it had been blown off. Normally, she would have looked away in disgust but in that situation she preferred Shax's arm being blown off him rather than the opposite.

In a flash of blue orbs Paige suddenly reappeared again, this time standing behind Shax. She looked around, half confused about where she had ended up but as she saw Shax again she did not hesitate. Instead of letting fear take over her again she forced herself to stay exactly where she was.

"Evil wind... evil..." she started, trying desperately to remember the spell in the book. "Evil wind that blows, that of which forms below! No longer will you... dwell, death takes you with this spell!"

Piper stared at her, her only thought being that Paige had been silly enough to try the spell. It wouldn't work. Even if it did it would never even come close to actually putting a stop to Shax. He was too powerful and without the Power of Three she and Prue could not vanquish him. But just as that fact, that unquestionable fact, came to her mind she saw Shax dropping to his knees again after trying to get up on his feet. The spell, even though it was cast by Paige, had had some effect on him. Piper looked up and turned to Prue, who had slowly pulled herself up on her feet. Her eyes were focused on Shax and slowly she started to chant the spell as well.

"Evil wind that blows..."

"...that of which forms below," Piper joined in, almost without knowing it. There was a third voice as well and when Piper looked at Paige she saw that she was chanting as well. All three of them chanted together with powerful voices. Shax suddenly let out a loud roar, as he was trapped in the center of a triangle between Prue, Piper and Paige.

"No longer will you dwell, death takes you with this spell!"

Already on the floor, Shax was twitching and screaming. When the last word of the spell was pronounced, he let out one, final cry of pain before his entire body seemed to twist into bizarre forms. Suddenly he burst into billions of pieces in forms of dust, shattering his very essence and being around the corridor.

The wind stopped blowing and all was silent.

* * *

The sun had risen and set over the Halliwell manor since their return. Prue stood in the kitchen, taking care of all the dishing they had neglected to do. They had returned to the manor at dawn and gone to sleep shortly after all the wounds had been tended to and Paige sent home to her apartment. But Prue was not one to sleep long and by noon she was already up and walking around the manor. Doing the dishes was not something that she had neglected without a purpose, but they gave her a task she could finish while silently reflecting on what had happened.

As unbelievable as it was, it had only been thirty hours since Phoebe's funeral. So many things had happened since then that it seemed unbelievable that they had just buried a sister. In a way it was unreal... that Phoebe was gone and all that was left of her was a simple and modest grave in the cemetery. There was nothing simple or modest about Phoebe.

"Wow... you're actually doing the dishes. I'm impressed."

Prue turned off the water tap and looked over her shoulder, finding Piper standing in the doorway. Upon seeing her sister, she forced herself to give her a faint smile. Piper tried to smile back in return, but it was not that convincing. After washing her hands clean, Prue walked over to Piper and put her arm around her shoulder. Piper said nothing and the two remaining Halliwell sisters walked into the conservatory.

"You've been up long?" Piper asked casually as they both sat down.

"A while," Prue answered. "I couldn't really sleep."

Piper just nodded and looked down, studying her own hands. A comfortable kind of silence settled between the two sisters, both of them extremely deep into their own thoughts and memories. At the same time the silence seemed extremely out of place for them. There was so much to be said but none of them knew where to start. Most of all, there was not a third sister in the room to start the conversation.

"Rough day... don't you think?" Piper said after a while.

"Talk about it," Prue agreed. "Just glad it's all over now."

"Piper? Prue?"

It was Leo's voice, calling for them from one of the rooms in the manor.

"We're here!" Piper called.

Moments later Leo came walking into the conservatory. After the battle with Shax, Leo had been injured enough that he could hardly stand. The rest, however, seemed to have restored him to his usual strength. But the wounds that he had carried, the bleeding on his face, the places where he had been burnt... they were all vanished. Both Piper and Prue looked curiously at him.

"Leo, did you heal yourself?" Prue asked.

"Ah... no," Leo replied, half smiling. "I went up there a few minutes ago and a whitelighter saw it and decided to do me a favor."

"Up there?" Piper repeated, a clear hint of disapproval in her voice. "What were you doing there?"

Leo opened his mouth to answer, but just as he was about to he closed it. It was apparent that he was nervous, because he boyishly stuck his hand into his pockets and stood there for a while without saying a word. Then he pulled out his hands and decided to sit down instead. All this time he had a look on his face that clearly revealed that he was thinking about how he was going to word his answer.

"I went to talk to the Elders," Leo began. "About something that Cole told me."

"Cole?" Prue called out in disbelief, as if shocked to hear that anyone would even listen to Cole.

"Yeah... he told me something that I didn't think about... that neither of us could have thought of. It's about Paige."

"What does Paige have to do with Cole?"

"It's not what Paige has to do with Cole, but what she has to do with you," Leo answered to Piper's question. He became silent again and tried to desperately think of a good way to break the news to his wife and sister-in-law. It was only when Piper's irritation at his silence became too obvious in her eyes that Leo decided on how to speak. "Don't you wonder why the Source and Shax lured you to the Underworld?"

"To kill us," Prue stated. "Isn't that obvious?"

"But the Source had the Charmed Ones and the Power of Three out of the way," Leo explained. "There was no reason for him to fear it anymore. Going after you two alone and even sending Shax and so many demons on it would be a waste of time to him. There's someone missing in the whole scheme."

Prue frowned as the realization of what was truly going on struck suddenly her.

"Paige..." she whispered. "He was after Paige and us."

Leo nodded briefly, confirming what she had just said.

"That's why I went up and talked to the Elders," he continued. "They think... that it's possible that the Charmed Ones might have been reconstituted."

Piper flinched upon hearing the last few words. She looked at both Prue and Leo, as if trying to decide whether she had actually imagined everything or if it was real. After looking back and forth several times, she knew that her hearing had not been mistaken. Still, the first thought that came to her was one of denial.

"Wait," Piper unexpectedly said. "Are you saying that Paige is a new... Charmed One?"

Leo looked down, not wanting to face his wife interrogating and hurt eyes. He could guess that Prue was looking at him the same way. The news came as a shock to them, he knew that. But there was one more important thing to tell and he was not sure how badly they would react to it. Finally, when Leo had gathered as much courage as he could, he raised his gaze and looked at both Piper and Prue.

"I think... it's more than that. I think she's your sister."


End file.
